


looking in the wrong places

by Princess_andromeda



Category: Saint Seiya, 聖闘士星矢Ω | Saint Seiya Omega
Genre: Gen, crossposted from tumblr, what-if-sonia-lived au part #135
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 15:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13149948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_andromeda/pseuds/Princess_andromeda
Summary: 《"You know, all this time I've been looking for my father's murderer. Instead, I found you."》 In which Sonia heals, and Soma lets her have her space.





	looking in the wrong places

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KnightlyWordsmith](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightlyWordsmith/gifts).



> crossposted from [tumblr](https://princesandromeda.tumblr.com/post/168427826252/looking-in-the-wrong-places), this came a lot shorter than I expected it to, but I'm mildly satisfied with the result, I guess.
> 
> I'm posting it here just in case my tumblr account gets deleted or hacked or something, and to make the Soma/Sonia tag larger. Maybe one day all the Soma/Sonia drafts I have laying around will get edited and posted.
> 
> ~~To Knight/teary: how would you like an Avatar!AU?~~

The second time he saw her, he just knew, _she was the one he was looking for_. He could never forget her pink hair and her emotionless mask.

And of course, remembering what she did to him, he dashed forward and attacked her (in order to protect Aria).

And she vanished. Just like the weird feeling of acknowledgment he got.

He had sworn to himself to find his father’s assassin then return the favor, and so he would.

* * *

The third time he saw her, it was in the Fire Ruins.

He was raging, so much and so deep like the lava flooding through the pyramids. He felt the fury and his need for vengeance in every single nerve.

All he could do to soothe those feeling was taking them out on someone.

He didn’t notice he had become a beast until Koga’s voice reached him.

So he ran away from the beast residing in his heart, the beast that awoke in those ruins, hopefully, to become a better person.

* * *

The next time, after training with Jabu, he went straight to the Darkness Ruins. He had been guided both by Aria’s cosmo and _hers_.

When he was forced to enter the ‘Room of Love & Hate’ alongside Sonia, he would have expected his side to be ‘love’ and hers to be ‘hate’.

Rather childish, wasn’t it?

Thing is, it wasn’t like that at all. The one person he had come to hate for his father’s demise, had committed all those atrocities for all the love she felt (and hoped would one day be returned).

And so he reached out, because he couldn’t let her get lost in the darkness because she couldn’t let go of love, or because he couldn’t let go of hate.

And even if her only visible eye was full of rage and confusion towards him—a feeling he had come to know all too well thanks to her—he wanted to tell her things would be okay now. He wanted, deep within him, to somehow help the scared girl hiding behind the mask.

Because he had finally found Sonia.

* * *

When they arrived at the Scorpio house, he had the feeling that he wouldn’t lose her again.

He fought, reluctantly, more defense than it was attack. He thought that maybe he could make her open her eyes, and so, rather than moving his body to retaliate her attacks, he kept moving his mouth, hoping that words would get to her better than his Flame Desperado.

And it was so sudden he couldn’t react accordingly.

The flames engulfing her body and everything near. He felt despair tug at his heart.

So he reached out again, because he didn’t want to lose her to all that destruction and the hate she thought people felt for her.

He wanted her to know that at least he forgave her.

And right as he was about to weep over the fact that she was lost to him, a small heartbeat and the brief cosmo he felt told him there was still a very small hope.

So he sent out a cosmo message to Kiki to help him out.

Huh, Seventh Sense. He hadn’t noticed he had acquired it.

Not minding that, he continued his way to his friends.

* * *

Her awakening was slow and painful.

Her whole body was stinging and heavy as hell.

She heard instant rustling around her, probably doctors, and she felt the instant relief at discovering _she was actually alive and not in a coma anymore_.

She didn’t blame them, though, since not even herself had believed she would make it. And she wished she hadn’t. She wished Hades had taken pity on her and let her swim on the Acheron alongside the other resting souls, or drink from the Lethe to forget everything. Because the worst part of having been in a war since she was a child was the memories.

She took a deep breath—or as deep as it could be without her lungs starting to complain—and willed herself to open her eyes.

She felt the many machines connected to her arms and chest and throat, then heard the one that indicated her heart rhythm skyrocket. She tried to move her finger and noticed the rough feeling of some kind of wet bandages around them, she blinked and noticed that she also had bandages around her face, part of her torso and her limbs.

Ah, so she had almost burnt herself to death. Such a pity her Antares Mäelstrom hadn’t finished the job.

She let the doctors talk, and didn’t answer their questions with anything more than a nod or shaking her head. It wasn’t worth it.

* * *

It took her a week after she was awake for the doctors to let her out. They had told her that she would be covered in those burn scars for the rest of her life— such a pity they said, they were sure she had such a pretty face.

(Not like she cared about something as superficial as her appearance. Never worked in her favor. A pretty face never defeated her opponents.)

She was surprised to see Eden come to pick her up, pushing a wheelchair into the room.

(She remembered briefly Soma’s words, and wondered why Eden hadn’t come to visit her in the whole week she was awake. She drowned the thought immediately. He probably had better things to do as a demigod.)

“Glad to see you’re alive, sis. I was just told about your being here.” There was a side-smile tugging at his lip, and a side-smile tugging at hers.

“Tcht. I can walk by myself.” She complained, nodding to the wheelchair. Her throat felt raspy. The doctors had said something like that was possible due to her having breathed some smoke from the wildfire she had been in.

Eden faltered on his place for a second, then sighed slightly. “The doctors told me your skin was still very fragile, and that it would be best if you don’t put pressure on the burned areas.”

Sonia didn’t say anything else, then let herself be led outside the lonely, awful hospital room.

* * *

It was embarrassing. Having to be dressed in those wet bandages on the burned areas and her normal clothes in the unburned areas.

At least it was her brother and not some random stranger doing it.

They had moved to their late father’s house in Italy, where Sonia always stared longingly at the piano, or admired the paintings, or the patterns in the furniture. Neither her nor Eden talked much, but it wasn’t awkward. There was just this mutual relief that the other was alive. And maybe her mind, like her burnt skin and her blisters, would one day heal. There was still this small chance at happiness they had.

* * *

 

And so the days flew by, and before she knew it, normal bandages could be applied and didn’t stick to her skin, and she could use her normal clothes above them. She was allowed to take small strolls, do small things like ordering her room, or playing small songs in the piano that came to her mind.

One day, she’d bloom like those thorned roses in the garden. Maybe missing some petals, but standing tall nonetheless.

* * *

Once her wounds were healed and the doctor said that the small, remaining blisters were unlikely to open, she took up the habit of wearing a mask again.

It wasn’t a beauty issue, it wasn’t under the pretense of being a female Saint either. She just wanted her brother to stop looking at her with remorse, like all of this was somehow his fault. (She didn’t want to see the longing and melancholy, the sadness of seeing his first trainer defeated like this.)

(Maybe one day she’d be able to remove it and not grimace at her scarred face.)

* * *

Once she was allowed to walk around without bandages, she spent most of her time outside. She had gained some weight from having done nothing during her recovering and she wanted to be as fit as she was.

It had nothing to do with vanity, but the thought that she wouldn’t be able to fight (as she could feel her cosmo almost gone) was almost unbearable. Thus, she wanted to at least be able to defend herself should the situation ever come. So one day she was training—habit her brother had pleaded her to leave, _they weren’t in a war anymore_ , (but he probably felt it too, the longing for the adrenaline coursing your veins, the longing for the power in every cell in your body, the satisfaction that you managed to protect what you stand for)—she heard some leaves ruffling far behind her; she looked around and noticed they had visitors.

Pegasus, Aquila, and Lionet? What were they doing there?

“What business do you have here?” she asked, keeping her distance from the Bronze Saints and a very wary stance. Aquila was the first to react.

“We came to visit Eden, of course,” her smile was amiable, but her eyes looked unsure as to ho address Sonia. Not like Sonia knew how to address them either.

It wasn’t like she cared if she came off as rude to them, but she kinda owed them the fact that she was still alive. So she sighed and unfolded her arms. “Eden went to the market for groceries; I guess you can wait for him inside in the meantime, but if he doesn’t want you, I’ll gladly help him kick you guys out.” With that, she turned the door handle and entered the house, not signaling them to follow her, not saying a word, just entering.

The Bronze Saints just looked at each other, shrugged and came in. Yuna was instantly awed.

“You guys have such a pretty house, no wonder Eden rejects our invitations to stay at Palestra,” she ran a hand through the piano keys, marveling at their cool, soft texture and the escalating sounds. “He plays the piano?” She asked, even more marveled.

Sonia stared at Aquila nonchalantly, she wanted to just go back to what she was doing. But looking at how curious these kids were, there was no chance she was leaving them alone lest they broke something. She stared at the piano, and just gave a vague “yeah, I taught him” before making a beeline for the kitchen, despite her earlier thoughts about the house’s safety.

She could hear the Bronze kids talking in the threshold as she reached for the cabinets for a glass, and the water running from the tap drowned that sound. Just as she was turning around, a sound startled her.

“Glad to see you’re still standing.”

And since her senses weren’t as sharp as before, she was caught off-guard and some water spilled on her training blouse. She gripped the glass and didn’t bother faking a smile since he couldn’t see it behind the mask. “Yeah, not thanks to you.” She tried to walk past him and his side-grin.

“Actually, it _was_  thanks to me.” And she bit her tongue upon remembering that one bit of information. She sighed and looked back to see him with something akin to a worried expression.

“Do you need something?” her tone was rude enough to, hopefully, make him back off but not enough to make him retaliate. He just frowned and nodded.

“I was actually wondering where the bathroom was.” One of his hands was scratching his cheek, while the other one stayed on his hip. He looked a little confused but not completely taken aback.

“Third door to the left.”

* * *

 

It took a little more than an hour before Eden’s arrival. He entered the house and stared questioningly at his sister. “What’re they doing here?” He asked, leaving his hat at the entrance.

Sonia just shrugged and continued staring outside. “They said they wanted to visit you; just say the word and they won’t be able to set foot here anymore.”

Eden considered the offer his sister made but ultimately decided it was a bad idea. Considering the new title Pegasus had achieved, it was probably not a good idea to get on his bad side.

“Neither I or my sister are good cooks, so we won’t offer you something fancy like on restaurants, but I think I can prepare some snacks?”

* * *

Sometime later they had warmed up to their guests, or at least Eden had. Answering to their conversations, starting new ones, catching up to how Palestra was doing.

“Ryuho says he’s sorry he couldn’t come, he wanted to spend time with his family,” Yuna mentioned at some point in the conversation.

“Also, we haven’t seen hair nor hide from Haruto, so we can’t tell about him,” Koga didn’t seem particularly worried about it, so no one else did.

And when it was almost time for sunset, Koga had asked, “do you think we could stay for the night? We have to leave for Palestra in the morning, anyway.”

Eden stared at his sister to ask whether she was okay with this, she just shrugged and stood up. “They’re your guests, just tell them to not expect me to be sugar and spice and everything nice.”

* * *

 

She could still feel the flames engulfing her body, licking her skin; all a byproduct of her own cosmo that wanted to kill her.

She could still hear Kazuma’s voice in her head, asking her if she had actually managed to protect those she loved.

She could still see Soma’s hand reaching out to her, and just when she was about to grab it, she decided to wake up.

Drenched in sweat, she noticed there was some blood on her arms. She had probably scratched the scars in her sleep.

Willing her trembling to stop, she rose from her bed and walked to the vanity; from the right drawer she grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around her arm, she made a note to clean it in the morning lest it gets infected.

She told herself going back to sleep was the best option, but the anxiousness creeping from the back of her mind told her she wouldn’t be able to. And so she grabbed her mask again and set off for the garden.

* * *

When she arrived, someone was waiting for her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Sonia stood a couple of feet away from him. “Yeah, me neither.” He stared at the stars and breathed deep. “It’s so clear out here, like in Palestra, and in my hometown.”

She kept still, wondering why the heck Lionet was talking to her so normally, like she hadn’t killed his father, or tried to kill him and his friends. Talking to her like she deserved understanding.

Soma sighed and tried to decide whether it was a good idea to walk to her. In the end, his outstretched arm, just like his friendly face dropped. “We’re not enemies anymore, you can stop walking on eggshells around us.”

Sonia scowled a little. “How can I know that? You hate me.” That much was clear.

Soma shook his head and looked at the plants around them. “I don’t, really. At least after the ‘Room of Love & Hate,’ I don’t.”

Still wary, Sonia walked a little closer to Lionet. Close enough to make him crack a smile, far enough to keep her personal space.

He breathed in the scent of nature, marveling at how the world seemed at peace. “You know,” he said, “all this time I had been looking for my father’s murderer. Instead, I found you.”

Sonia let out a humorless laugh. “What a disappointment that must’ve been.”

“Quite contrary,” he passed a hand through his hair and his smile, upon staring at her, widened. “You have to be one of the most intriguing people I’ve ever met.”

“Isn’t it boring trying to figure me out?” He was rather impulsive, after all. She would’ve expected him to drop his interest after a few months. But he hadn’t.

“Not really, no.” Unsure of what else to do, he reached out his hand, and checking Sonia’s body languages for anything that might tell him to stop, he grabbed the edge of the mask and tried to pull it. Her hand quickly caught his, telling him to leave it off. His smile turned a little sad. “You know, it’s not bad to show you have scars. It’s a way to let people know you’ve suffered to get where you are, that you are still alive after all the shit you’ve gone through.

“It’s a way to show you’re human.” Sonia didn’t react to it, just kept her hand where it was. Soma, reluctantly, retreated it.

Feeling awkward, he kept his hands in his pant pockets.

“You should come to Palestra,” he said off-handedly, “we’ve gotten a couple of students with Darkness Element, and you know, Koga’s not the best instructor.” He laughed a little, his mirth dying quickly with an unresponsive Sonia. “Not today. I mean, once you’re over this whole ‘healing stuff’. I know it’s hard, we all cope differently.” He grabbed something from his pocket, and she couldn’t help the small gasp when she saw the Southern Cross Cloth Stone. “And I think this belongs to you?”

“Don’t you want to keep it? It’s your father’s.” Soma shrugged.

“It has a way deeper meaning for you, I’d rather you keep it.” He waited for her to grab it, before flashing another grin and start walking away. “I’ll wait for you.”

Once he was away, she put the Cloth Stone around her neck, the cool metal felt nice against her burning heart. She also grabbed both sides of her mask and pulled it off slowly.

Once she could get used to herself she would accept his offer, for now, she preferred to hide her vulnerability behind her mask.


End file.
